Ong- Suzuki Music correlation

Dr.Redick
Religious Studies 335
Michelle Newcomb

I know this is probably back tracking a bit, but I had an experience the other day that I wanted to tie into some readings we had a few weeks ago. I just started playing in a small flute choir with some girls from CNU and one of the girls has learned music through a style called ‘Suzuki’ (not the motorcycle, hahaha). A lot of people don’t know what that is anymore (including myself, up until I met her) and students who have learned under this style are few and far between. As far as my understanding goes (and if you want more info, just ‘google’ it and there is plenty of literature on it) the theory behind the style of training is that children pick up languages and dialects easily when they are young, so why not music as well? Children are started out with an instrument, they get to know it – become friends with it. After some time they are taught to play – but only by ear. There is no reading involved; their learning is based solely on their ear and aural perception of the music.
What I found most interesting about this player-friend of mine is how she struggled to keep up with a mediocre level flute choir, some of the girls have years less experience than she does but move at a much faster pace. I could almost see the analogy right in front of me – the difference between an oral/aural society and a literate one. All the other players are fast paced, they pick up the music quickly, they want precision and accuracy. The Suzuki player though, adds a different element – she wants to make sure that all the notes sound good when played together, she wants everyone to be on the same pitch (its much easier for her to tell when anyone is off, because that’s how she’s learned) but when it comes to precision and accuracy of the music, she lacks the experience. She can hardly read music as it is (because she didn’t learn music by reading) and so she can never tell when shes off beat or in a different place than everyone else – and the most interesting part is that she doesn’t care! Its such an interesting correlation, that there is a modern day American who might as well be a member of an oral society (as far as music is concerned anyways) and I was really shocked to see all the discussions we had about oral societies and how they differ from literate ones played out right in front of me in flute choir.